Her father was born in Tibet and raised in Delhi, while her mother (who died in 2008) was from

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Sunny Leone was born in Sarnia, Ontario to Sikh Punjabi parents.

Her father was born in Tibet and raised in Delhi, while her mother (who died in 2008) was from Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh.

As a young girl, she was a self-described tomboy, very athletic and played street hockey with the boys.

Although the family was Sikh, her parents enrolled her in Catholic school as it was felt to be unsafe for her to go to public school.

When she was 13, her family moved to Fort Gratiot, Michigan, then to Lake Forest, California a year later, fulfilling her grandparents' dream that the family be together in one place.

She discovered her bisexuality at age 18.

In 2011, she participated in the Indian reality series Bigg Boss, entering the house on day 49.

However she refused to divulge her porn star status, and replied to fellow house-mate Pooja Bedi that she was a model and a TV star in America for the last ten years or so.

It was reported that she caused a stir in the larger populace with her Twitter feed gaining 8,000 new followers in just 2 days and Google saying searches for her experienced a "breakout".

There were also complaints lodged with the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting alleging that the Colors TV channel was promoting pornography by having Leone appear on the show; among those who filed are the Indian Artistes and Actors Forum and Anurag Thakur, member of Lok Sabha and head of the Bharatiya Janata Party's youth wing.